Rockridge
High School
Taylor
Ridge, Illinois
Teacher:
Barbara Downey
The
People’s Government
By Jamie Bush
12th grade
“Government
of the people, by the people and for the people”.
Isn’t that the quote the American people have heard so many times?
Yet, many Americans are losing faith in our government because they
feel their voice is not being heard and their vote does not count.
Some believe, as do I, that special interests are getting too much
special attention, and campaigns are concerned with who has more of the
almighty dollar rather that which candidate has better ideas for the people.
Some people believe that while campaigning for such an important and
prestigious office as the presidency, the candidate is entitled to whatever
assets they can find. But there
are problems that some just simply are not aware of.
First of all, campaigns are becoming way too expensive.
A year before Election Day, television viewers are already seeing
commercials with one candidate bashing the other.
Another problem is that candidates with good ideas are not being heard
because they lack money and strong connections to special interests.
The bottom line on this one is that it is simply not fair.
Good men and women who have outstanding ideas are not even getting the
chance to be heard. And finally,
candidates spend way too much time finding money to help sponsor their
campaign rather than preparing themselves for the responsibilities of public
office.
The CMCR (Clean Money Campaign Reform) has some solutions to these
problems. The CMCR has set
spending limits for campaigns to provide a level playing fields and eliminate
the need for fundraising. These
solutions will help make campaigns and elections fairer because more
candidates and their ideas will be heard.
It is important to know that the Clean Money Campaign Reform is
strictly voluntary.
I have shown you the ideas and suggestions the CMCR has to make
campaigns fairer, now I will tell you how it works.
First of all, it is important to know what the organization is here to
do. It is “designed to provide
a clear alternative to the current system of raising and spending largely
special interests money to finance election campaigns.”
This means people can campaign without having to compromise their
“independence”.
Supporters for the CMCR can be defined very simply: “a range of
people cutting across political, social, ethnic, and economical lines.”
Supporter John Anderson, former presidential candidate and co-founder
of CMCR, said, “The American people instinctively know when big money rules;
ordinary voters are left out in the cold.”
He also said that, “Our mission is nothing less than to restore our
faith in government and to strengthen our national institutions so that they
may endure and be passed on in good health to our children.”
Another supporter, Antonio Hernandez, executive director of the Mexican
American Legal Defense stated, “Our current system of financing political
campaigns excludes many people, including Latinos, from fully participating in
the political process because they do not have fast financial resources.”
Also he added that, “Clean Money Campaign Reform will help to change
this, and enhance democracy for us all.”
When
dealing with a campaign, a direct election is the correct method.
Too many times the American public has given a candidate the majority
of the vote, yet the candidate was not chosen to represent the people.
I believe the people should decide who is their president, and the
Electoral College takes that option away.
So many times we hear that the American people have become
disillusioned with the government because they have no faith in it.
I do not believe there is any possible way for the people to give
support to a government that does not listen to them.
Doing
away with the Electoral College and bringing in the direct vote is the best
and most fair thing to do for the American people.
More people will become more involved in elections and their government
if they know their voices are being heard. The Electoral College is the reason
why Americans do not support their government one hundred percent.
Also, if the people knew their vote was to “directly” count, there
would be a much larger voter turnout.
I understand that some people may disagree with my opinions.
The Electoral College takes away so many of the American people’s
rights. It takes away the power
the people are guaranteed in the Constitution.
Campaign Finance reform is something that needs to be done to make
elections fair for the American people so they know which candidates are the
right candidates to represent them.
Bibliography
“Clean
Money Campaign Reform.” Homepage
– Public Campaign. On-line.www.publicampaign.org/
Questions
to be answered after the required reading has been completed:
1.
How and when did the United States elect a president and vice president
of different parties? Name them
and their respective parties.
Candidates
with the highest number of votes should be president and runner up will be
vice president. 1796 – John
Adams (Federalist) President
2.
Describe four ways that were suggested to elect the President between
1808 and 1846.
First
direct vote plan, Electoral College votes, automatic plan, and proportional
plan.
3.
Name five U.S. Presidents who were elected with less than a popular
vote.
Zachary
Taylor, Abraham Lincoln, Grover Cleveland, Woodrow Wilson, and John Kennedy
4.
Describe the winner-take-all system.
Which states use this system?
Common
people vote and the popular vote wins. All
states but Maine use this system.
5.
When do electors vote and when are the results known?
The
electors vote the first Monday after the second Wednesday in December.
In January the votes are counted before both Houses and the results are
officially announced.
6.
What affect would substituting a direct popular vote for the Electoral
College have on third party candidates? Why?
They
would receive more votes and take away from two major parties.
They do this to encourage a third party.
7.
Give four arguments for and against a direct vote system?
Candidates
with more popular votes always win, it gives equal weight to every vote, it
does away with faithless elector problems, it encourages greater voter
participation, and it encourages minority votes.
It
encourages minority parties because there would be a greater probability two
greater parties would not get the majority of the votes, actual voting is more
important than the population, it gives less vote to poor non-voters, and
candidates could conceivably win on votes of special interests.
8.
Describe the differences between the district plan, the proportional
plan and the winner-take-all plan.
The
district plan is districts instead of states;
the proportional plan provides the electoral votes according to the
popular votes. In the
winner-take-all plan the winner of the majority votes gets all electoral
votes.
9.
State the four points experts in 1969 agreed should be included in an
ideal plan for
The need for quick decision, the winner should be the people’s choice
(winner of
10.
Write a paragraph describing what is meant by one of the following:
Shrinkage
I think that the term “Crisis is Opportunity” means that when something is
wrong,
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